Linguistic evidence is also against the pre-European introduction of cats with
Aboriginal words like 'walikatja' for wild cat and 'pudikatja' for pussy cat.
Aboriginal people swiftly incorporated cats into their diet but, as I stated
previously, there is no archaeological evidence of pre-European consumption of
cats.
Cheers
David
Sent from my iPhone
> On 9 Mar 2015, at 16:50, Ian May <> wrote:
>
> Hello all
>
> There appears to be a concerted effort by some out there to convince the
> public that Northern (tropical) feral cats are no different and have been on
> mainland Australia, no longer than any of the others feral cats that we see
> roaming the bush across the rest of the land. In my experience, that does
> not seem correct and is probably wrong. The theory that northern tropical
> feral cats were introduced by early Makassar sailors to me seems not only
> plausible, but likely.
>
> Having had a lifelong interest in wildlife and and during the 90's mapped
> most of the ancient Makassar trepang (Sea Cucumbers, Holothurians) camps
> located along the coast from Darwin to Boome, I observed that most feral cats
> in remote coastal areas away from towns are similar if not identical in
> appearance to a typical Timor/Makassar tabby type. Furthermore, compared to
> the larger type feral cats of inland Australia, the behaviour and habits of
> the feral cats inhabiting remote coastal tropical areas are more cryptic and,
> notwithstanding the heavier vegetation cover of their habitat, much more
> difficult to locate compared to their inland cousins. Tropical feral cats
> have a much more uniform appearance, seem smaller and are distinctively
> different compared to feral cats of inland Australia. Of course, there is an
> obviuos influence of more typical house cat type ferals as one moved closer
> to established human communities.
>
> The absence of cats found at ancient Makassar archaeological sites across
> northern Australian coast is not surprising. This does not diminish the
> possibility/probability that cats were introduced to northern Australia many
> years, probably more than 400+ years before European settlement by Makassar
> or even earlier, by Madagascan sailors. How many dead cats would one really
> expect to see at any archaeological site in northern Australia including
> European sites?
> It has been stated there are no cats to be seen in ancient aboriginal art.
> However, for all its unique cultural significance, Aboriginal art is not the
> most reliable form of natural history recording. In some of the remotest
> parts of the Kimberley coast there are what is known as Bradshaw style (Gyorn
> Gyorn) paintings( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradshaw_rock_paintings )
> among many other things, showing what appear to be Madagascan type sailors
> wearing trouser tassels and representing other characteristic artefacts' some
> including animals and sailing boats. The fact that the Bradshaw paintings
> precedes aboriginal art and have been painted over by ancient Wanjana
> aboriginal paintings; themselves known to be hundreds of years older than
> first known European visits to the mainland has become controversial.
> Bradshaw paintings could be 60000 years old but, to discuss this topic is
> considered in some circles to be politically incorrect, just like the
> discussion around the likelihood that feral cats have probably been on
> mainland Australia for a long time, at least many hundreds of years too.
>
> This likely theory clearly disturbs many cat haters. It appears that,
> notwithstanding the predation of an occasional night parrot, it is difficult
> for a cat hater to argue or acknowledge that much of the damage that can be
> caused by feral cats has probably already been done and that the natural
> environment is most likely now accommodating an uncomfortable balance; and
> that the impacts from feral cats are now more likely determined from
> population fluctuations due to varying but natural seasonal conditions.
>
> This is not to say that we should not be doing everything possi9ble to
> protect vulnerable species of native wildlife from the direct impact of
> predators, both native and feral. Obviously to protect some vulnerable rare
> species, predator control measures are imperative however the problem of
> feral cats needs to be kept in perspective and unless voices of reason are
> heard regarding this problem, there is every likelihood that a broad scale
> attack on feral cats will not only be ineffective and hideously expensive,
> but more than likely will do more damage than good.
>
> regards
>
> Ian May
> St Helens, Tasmania
>
> PS Yesterday, across this locality in NE Tasmania, we experienced a two
> hour flyover of Spine-tailed Swifts (WTNT) from 0830.
> After 0930, I drove about the district from Dianna Basin to Priory and from
> St Helens Point and Stieglitz to Binalong Bay to confirm that it was
> happening all across the broad area. Throughout this time, there were
> between 1 and 5 birds in any field of view, rarely any period when birds were
> not evident, their general movement was inland. Impossible to estimate
> numbers but must have been many hundreds, or possibly a thousand + birds.
> Earlier in the morning, we watched the slow offshore movement of a dense rain
> bearing low pressure tough moving offshore from St Helens point. The front
> was carrying many hundreds of Albatross and Petrels.
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Michael,
>> I believe there is no support for the hypothesis that cats were established
>> in Australia prior to European settlement. There's been a paper or two on
>> this from a few years back but I'll have to dig it/them out when I get back
>> to the office. From memory the evidence was based on time frames of
>> invasion, and old reports, ship records, etc. There may have been something
>> genetic in there too, but I can't really remember. I do remember being
>> satisfied that the researcher(s) had been thorough, and they convinced me.
>>
>> It's a bit of a longstanding myth, and I certainly believed it based on the
>> appearances of some cats I'd seen in N. Aust. If you or anyone else on the
>> list has recent papers supporting the alternative hypothesis, of multiple
>> introductions including prior to European settlement, I'd love to see them,
>> because it's something I like to keep up with.
>> And without really wanting to cause a stir, I think it's a bit like the myth
>> of the large outback moggie, fed a high-protein diet (as opposed to?). My
>> former boss did some work on cats and from memory the average size was under
>> 4 kg (n = a 100 or so from memory). There are large Felis catus (to avoid
>> the term "big cats") out there, but I've seen hundreds of cats that I would
>> put in the 2 - 4 kg guesstimate and about three that were big, maybe > 5 kg.
>>
>> Again, I'll dig out the figures when I get back to the office.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Eric
>>
>>
>>> On 3 Mar 2015, at 7:19 pm, "Michael Hunter" <>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi All.
>>>
>>> Cats have been a major issue for Australian Wildlife for centuries, and
>>> they have modified the distribution and survival of birds and animals since
>>> first introduced, from Indonesia by the Makassar's and later by Europeans.
>>> Apparently the Northwest half of Oz has genetically Indonesian type cats,
>>> the Southeast are European, for what that is worth.
>>>
>>> Controlling them will take a lot of research and labour, but once
>>> effective control methods are invented, distributing those controls would
>>> be worthwhile. It cost $25 million to control rabbits on Macquarie Island,
>>> what price Night Parrot ad other ground or termite mound nesters and what
>>> are left of our small mammals
>>> The novel spray-on poison for fastidious felines noted by Charles in a
>>> recent post is very interesting. Just how you would get the pussies to
>>> pass the spraying machine is another matter.
>>>
>>> I imagine that pheromones, odours derived from mating female cats, could
>>> be isolated, concentrated and spread around to attract males from far and
>>> wide, and possibly territorial females, would be effective.
>>> We had a cat problem which was solved by trapping in a possum trap
>>> baited with "Snappy Tom" canned cat food, and the miscreants humanely and
>>> painlessly disposed of via the local vet. Feral cats are said to be
>>> extremely indisposed to entering metal traps. Research into overcoming
>>> that problem (larger traps sprayed with pheromones and completely devoid of
>>> human odour) should work at least some of the time.
>>>
>>> How about Feline Distemper? Hunting dogs in restricted areas?
>>>
>>> Research into the territorial areas of feral cats is a must, maybe it has
>>> already been done.
>>>
>>> Some of you guys with a lot more time than me might surf the net for
>>> answers?
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>> Michael
>>>
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